Hey Guys, so I know last chapter might have seemed a bit abrupt with Aria quick change of mind. I have the tendency to drag things out to the point they aren't fun anymore, so I am trying to avoid that in this story, to keep it lively, keep it fun.

brandnewx3: Alright, I'm a history major, English minor and go figure when I need a break from all that reading and academic writing, I decide to read and write…sometimes I wonder if I am a bit crazy! Thanks for being interested.

Chapter 7: Whoever Made Those Rules

Whoever made those rules
Never looked into your eyes
On a moonlight night
Who would have thought that I could have found
A love this strong
It can't be wrong
Less is more made sense before
But now I can't get enough
Baby you made a fool of who ever made those rules

-Doc Walker – Whoever Made Those Rules

The question "Where do we go from here?" stuck in the air between us. I was waiting expectantly for him to tell me something wonderful, something that would make this night more perfect than it had already been.

"Well, that's the thing I don't really know Aria." He sighed, "Do you think we could be just friends for a while? Until you are legal, ugh! That sounds so terrible to say," he said, biting his lip then, looking like he was chiding himself for saying it out loud.

Just friends? That stung. It brought me down a level in the ecstasy department, that's for sure.

"Um, yeah, I guess." I stated, trying not to let my lack of enthusiasm show through.

"I think that would be a good start for us, it'll be really tough you understand that right?" He asked.

I almost laughed, "Yeah, I understand that." I said dryly, I wasn't stupid; I had been dying to kiss him since he confessed to loving me. How on earth was I supposed NOT act on that after so long of being away from him? After so long of missing him, after knowing that when we kissed my heart felt complete again? It was near torture.

'It'll be really tough' was a complete understatement.

"And we are going to have to tell your parents about our past before we start dating." He stated, laying down the rules for our future relationship.

"What? Ezra, you can't make me do that." I told him, seriously it would ruin everything. I could just imagine my mother's face as the reality of my betrayal hit her. My mom wasn't as strong as she had been; she didn't have the support that she used to when she and my dad were happy. She was fragile, I was sure that my betrayal would be a terrible blow.

"That one is non-negotiable for me Aria, but we don't have to cross that bridge until we get to it."

I sighed.

"What's up? What's wrong?" He asked quickly.

"I don't know, you just sort of sprang this all on me, not caring about how I might feel about it." I informed him, fiddling with the cardboard sleeve on my coffee cup.

"Look, I'm not trying to be overbearing here but we have to do things right this time around. This is our shot, our chance to not make the same mistakes." He said excitedly.

"Do you know how badly I've been wanting to kiss you? And then we have to be just friends, do you know how much that sucks?" I asked him feeling incredibly agitated.

"You're killing Aria, you know that? That's another rule, no speaking of things we want to do to each other, because talk like that is bound to get out of hand fast." He stated sound slightly stern.

"Can I just get it out of my system, and then we can start the friends' thing?" I asked, sounding a little bit like I was begging.

"Aria, it kills me to say no, but I really think that is a bad idea. I know this is gonna be difficult." He stated.

"Ezra, if you think this is just going to be difficult then you don't want me like I want you." I told him. He looked a little bit shell-shocked. It in my opinion it was borderline impossible and I wasn't sure we would actually be able to pull it off. In fact I was 60-40 in favour of the fact that we were going to fail miserably at this just friends thing. Yet that type of failure sounded incredible, and I didn't think I'd mind in the slightest if we just couldn't do it and had to resort to a massive make out session. Something told me Ezra would freak.

"I don't even know what to say to that," he said after a moment, shaking his head and struggling to maintain his neutral but adamant expression.

"So we're friends." I said, the words didn't taste or sound very good. It was a step up from never seeing him again, but such a demotion from what we had been. "Are we free to date other people?" I asked offhandedly, I didn't want anyone else but clarity was needed. Could he date someone else?

He had a blank look for a minute. "Is there someone else?" He asked, he didn't sound jealous, more shocked than anything else.

"No, of course not. That's the funny thing, I didn't even want to find someone else, even if it would help me get over you and I didn't want it. I guess I kind of felt that at least if I was still hurting I hadn't lost you completely." I offered then feeling just a little bit silly for mentioning it. "I just want to know what to expect I guess." I told him.

"So were are like exclusive friends with no benefits till your next birthday?" Ezra said, "Until we tell your parents." He said with an exhale, as if he was nervous already and my birthday was still almost half a year away.

"Do I seriously have to be eighteen? Isn't dating me legal, unless we 'sleep together' sleep together?" I asked him.

"Aria something in me hates to be the guy that tows the line, the foolish guy that plays with fire until he winds up burnt or the one that bends the rules until they break. We are different than other people, but I don't want to take that for granted anymore. I don't want to delude myself this time and imagine that our uniqueness would make everything okay." He paused for a moment and then scratched his neck. "They say love is patient, and something in me says that if I believe our love could last a lifetime, why can't I wait? I don't want to rush anything this time Aria, I don't need to date you to love you, I found that one out the hard way." He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I felt his warmth sink into me. This was pretty nice I had to admit, sure it wasn't hot and bothered, it wasn't letting me satisfy my urge to kiss him, but man he it feel wonderful.

I sighed, "Okay, just friends."

AN: I'm back, I might be spastic with the updates...I have a new semester now and it is chaos! I'm taking a creative writing class, so that will be where my effort is focused for the most part. I will try to be fair and not leave you lovely people hanging, but I'm only one person and there are only so many hours to not sleep in the day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! PLEASE REVIEW!